{{short description|Magazine}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2013}} {{Infobox magazine | title = AARP: The Magazine | image_file = PowellAARP.jpg | image_size = 200 | image_alt = | image_caption = July/August 2006 cover featuring Colin Powell | editor = Robert Love | editor_title = Editor In Chief | previous_editor = | staff_writer = | frequency = Every other month<ref name="pub">{{cite web|title=AARP: The Magazine Editorial Calendar 2018|url=https://res.cloudinary.com/advertise-aarp/image/upload/v1531770953/AARP_The_Magazine_-_Editorial_Calendar_2018.pdf|publisher=AARP|access-date=July 21, 2018}}</ref> | total_circulation = 23,428,878<ref name="circ">{{cite web|title=Consumer Magazines|url=http://abcas3.auditedmedia.com/ecirc/magtitlesearch.asp|publisher=Alliance for Audited Media|access-date=June 1, 2016|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170123200306/http://abcas3.auditedmedia.com/ecirc/magtitlesearch.asp|archive-date=January 23, 2017|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> | circulation_year = 2015 | category = Lifestyle | company = AARP | publisher = | firstdate = {{start date and age|1958}} (as ''Modern Maturity'')<br />{{start date and age|2002}} (as ''AARP: The Magazine'') | country = United States | based = Washington, D.C., U.S. | language = English | website = {{URL|aarpmagazine.org}} | issn = 1541-9894 | oclc = 50718933 }}
'''''AARP: The Magazine''''' is an American bi-monthly magazine, published by AARP, which focuses on aging-related issues.
==History and operations== In 1958, AARP began publishing a magazine titled ''Modern Maturity.''<ref name=psa>{{cite web|title=Top 100 U.S. Magazines by Circulation|url=http://www.psaresearch.com/images/TOPMAGAZINES.pdf|work=PSA Research Center|access-date=6 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115225953/http://www.psaresearch.com/images/TOPMAGAZINES.pdf|archive-date=November 15, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|title=Modern maturity|date=1958|publisher=American Association of Retired Persons|editor-last=American Association of Retired Persons|location=Lakewood, Calif.}}</ref> ''Modern Maturity'' was later split into two editions, one for AARP members ages 59–65, and another for members over 65. In spring 2001, AARP began publishing ''My Generation'' targeting a younger Baby boomer audience. In 2002, AARP combined the resources of its two publications into a single magazine to be published six times a year called ''AARP: The Magazine''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=AARP To Combine Modern Maturity, My Generation|url=https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/3337/aarp-to-combine-modern-maturity-my-generation.html|access-date=2020-08-04|website=www.mediapost.com|language=en}}</ref>
The Editor-In-Chief is Robert Love, as of September 2020.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=2017-03-30|title=Lessons in Magazine Editing from AARP's Bob Love|url=https://www.foliomag.com/read-like-enemies-will-lessons-magazine-editing-aarps-bob-love/|access-date=2020-08-04|website=Folio|language=en-US}}</ref> Love has held the position since 2013.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|date=2016-06-07|title=It's the Biggest Print Magazine in the World—And It's About to Get Bigger|url=https://washingtonian.com/2016/06/07/aarp-biggest-print-magazine-world-get-bigger/|access-date=2020-08-04|website=Washingtonian|language=en-US}}</ref> Prior to AARP, Love held editorial positions at ''The Week'', ''Reader's Digest'', Rodale's ''Best Life'', ''Playboy'', ''Rolling Stone'', and ''New York''.<ref name=":2" />
In the late 1990s, the AARP sought to alter perception about older Americans. One of the first steps was to change the name of the organization's monthly magazine and focus the editorial content on active seniors still in the prime of their lives.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Times|first=Robin Toner New York|title=AARP PUTS A NEW SPIN ON GETTING OLD|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1999-08-08-9908080056-story.html|access-date=2020-08-04|website=OrlandoSentinel.com|date=August 8, 1999 |language=en-US}}</ref> Cover subjects were changed from people such as Betty White, who was 77 at the time, to Susan Sarandon, who had recently turned 52. Other cover subjects since then have included Bruce Springsteen, Sally Field, Valerie Bertinelli, Dr. Mehmet Oz, and Dennis Quaid.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Newman|first=Andrew Adam|date=2010-08-23|title=A Magazine Now Tailored to the Not Necessarily Retired|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/24/business/media/24adco.html|access-date=2020-08-04|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
The magazine publishes roughly 52 editorial pages six times a year<ref name=":2" /> in three separate editions, one for people ages 50–59, one for readers 60–69, and another for those 70+.<ref name=":4" />
== Advertising and circulation == At the time of its creation in 2002, ''AARP: The Magazine'' combined the circulations of two publications, ''Modern Maturity'' with 17.1 million, and ''MyGeneration'' with 4 million.<ref name=":3" />
The magazine is sent to every AARP member, and thus is the largest circulation magazine in the United States;<ref name="psa" /> it has held that position since the late 1980s.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}} The circulation of the magazine is 23,428,878 copies as of December 2015.<ref name="circ" />
In the second quarter of 2010, ''AARP: The Magazine'' sold US$23.9 million in advertising. This represented a 14.5% increase over the same period the year earlier.<ref name=":0" /> In 2017, a full-page ad in the magazine cost US$667,800, an 18% increase over the prior five years.<ref name=":4" />
The magazine had a circulation of 22.5 million in 2017. During that same year readership, which is measured by survey, topped 37 million for the first time.<ref name=":2" />
==See also== {{Portal|Journalism|United States}}
* List of United States magazines *Media in Washington, D.C.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{official}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:AARP: The Magazine}} Category:1958 establishments in Washington, D.C. Category:Magazines established in 1958 Category:AARP Category:Lifestyle magazines published in the United States Category:Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Category:English-language magazines Category:Magazines published in Washington, D.C.